The Democracy And Transformation They Mean

 Happy Democracy Day, Nigeria!

The people had known all along that June 12 is their preferred democracy day, but President Jonathan (6 May 2010 – 29 May 2015) and all the Presidents before him insisted on ramming May 29 down their throats.

 In this 2013 cartoon, the Secretary to the Federal Government is trying too hard to convince you and I (U & I) to accept May 29, but we aren’t having it.

And then President Buhari came along (29 May 2015 – 29 May 2023) to do our bidding. According to President Tinubu, it took the dauntless courage of President Buhari in 2018 to reach “back into history to rectify a national misdeed by making June 12 Democracy Day.”

The Democracy and Transformation We Mean

 THISDAY 11 June 2013    By Anyim Pius Anyim

 It is now two weeks since we all celebrated Democracy Day.  Within the intervening period, Nigerians have had time to digest and react to the Mid-Term Review Report, through which the government of President Goodluck Jonathan gave us an update on policy and governance issues under the Transformation Agenda. We recall that on May 29, the president said: “Democracy is as much a result as it is a process and today’s event invites us to reflect on both the processes and results of our thriving democracy. There is evidence of stronger democratic institutions. There is even stronger evidence of an evolving culture of better consultation, better stakeholder input and better mass buy-in on all major issues of national development.”

https://allafrica.com/stories/201306110304.html

Escapism

History has it that Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned. We’re told the great fire consumed 70% of the city, rendering over half of the inhabitants dispossessed.

Can you imagine what could have happened if the inhabitants had joined Nero in his frivolous preoccupation? Rome could have burned to a cinder!

That’s exactly where we are headed. Our own Emperor (government) is playing the fiddle while the country burns and we are providing backing, instead of booing. We are playing second fiddle to our government, so to speak! We are wallowing in frivolities while our country is enmeshed in crisis…. What a pity!

 

Reciprocal Disrespect

 The fact that I respect you doesn't mean you should disrespect me.

Janus-Faced Politicians And The Rest Of Us

 ‘Tis the season of cross carpeting, when politicians migrate from the opposition PDP party to the ruling APC party.

The average Nigerian politician is an embodiment of these two major political parties. He has long asserted his right to move freely between the two. Thus, he feels at home in either; and his motives are beyond reproach.

Which means, he could represent PDP to me and at the same time represent APC to you ‘behind my back’ with the eventuality of setting us on a collision course.